Rising Women Making an Impact in Their Industries
LUXUO celebrates the trailblazers who challenge expectations and redefine what it means to be a leader in their respective fields.
While systemic challenges still exist, LUXUO highlights eight women who have shattered barriers by either inspiring societal change or exceeding professional ambition. By reshaping the rules of their respective fields across sports, fashion, the arts and business, they have paved the way for the next generation of leaders.
In sports, figures like Eileen Gu, Alysa Liu and Atthaya Thitikul are challenging historical norms, setting records and navigating cultural expectations with poise. In arts and culture, Adelene Koh and Malak Mattar translate traditional practices and lived experience into powerful, globally resonant works. Designers such as Gigi Burris and Cindy Castro preserve craft and advocate for sustainability while innovating in fashion and entrepreneurs like Sarika Bajaj and Sophia Kianni are transforming industries at the intersection of technology, climate and social impact. Together, their work reminds the world that breaking barriers is both a personal and collective act — one that shapes industries, cultures and the futures of those who follow in their footsteps.
Sports
Eileen Gu: Olympic Champion
At just 22, Eileen Gu has firmly cemented herself as one of the most accomplished athletes in winter sports history. At the 2026 Milano‑Cortina Winter Olympics, she added two silver medals (in slopestyle and big air) to her already remarkable Olympic résumé, bringing her total to five career medals and making her the most decorated female freestyle skier in Olympic history. Gu’s performance in Italy wasn’t without personal and competitive pressure — after narrowly missing gold in her showcase events, she dismissed questions about “lost golds” as a “ridiculous perspective,” emphasising instead the historic consistency of her achievements and her dedication to advancing her sport.
Eileen Gu has not only dominated the winter sports world with multiple Olympic medals — including golds and podium finishes at the 2022 Beijing Games and standout performances in global competitions — but also redefined what it means to be an athlete in the public eye. As a dual‑heritage Chinese‑American competing for China, she has navigated cultural expectations with grace.
Alysa Liu: Figure Skater
After successfully landing multiple quadruple jumps and competing at elite global championships, Alysa Liu has pushed the technical ceiling of women’s figure skating. By landing multiple quadruple jumps — moves once almost exclusively attempted by men — she has expanded the sport’s technical envelope. Her achievements challenge long-standing norms of performance and scoring that historically constrained female skaters’ creative expression. Liu’s presence in the sport demonstrated how women in traditionally conservative competitive arenas can redefine standards while retaining artistic elegance.
Prior to the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, Liu stepped away from the sport, taking a two-year hiatus to focus on her well-being after facing the intense pressure of high-level competition. Beyond her athletic achievements, Liu remains deeply engaged with cultural and social issues, using her platform to support causes such as Palestinian rights, highlighting her commitment to speaking out on matters she cares about while balancing the demands of a global sporting career.
Atthaya Thitikul: Professional Golfer
At just 22, Thai golfer Atthaya “Jeeno” Thitikul has emerged as one of the most compelling figures in women’s golf, not simply for her results but for what they signify in a sport that has historically been dominated by men since its evolution. Thitikul first captured global attention as a teenager, becoming the youngest player ever to reach world No.1 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings at 19 — a milestone that placed her alongside the game’s elite and marked a cultural moment for Asian athletes on the a global stage.
In 2025 she delivered one of the most remarkable seasons in LPGA history, winning multiple tournaments including a repeat victory at the CME Group Tour Championship, securing both the Rolex Player of the Year award and the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average — the latter in record‑breaking fashion, surpassing a mark that had stood for decades. Beyond titles and rankings, her consistency — noted in top‑10 finishes across the LPGA Tour — and her ability to perform under pressure reflect a maturity far beyond her years. Returning to the world No.1 position and capturing victory on home soil in the Honda LPGA Thailand further cemented her role as a figure of national pride and international influence.
Arts/Culture
Adelene Koh: Singaporean Fine Bookbinder
Adelene Koh is the only Singaporean and Southeast Asian to be shortlisted for the LOEWE Foundation 2026 Craft Prize. In her work “Endless”, she transforms the endband — a traditionally hidden bookbinding element — into a circular, meditative sculpture. By hand-folding pages, threading them with embroidery techniques and shaping aluminum wire cores, Koh reimagines centuries-old craft practices as contemporary sculptural expression. Her work engages with the historical context of bookbinding, yet transcends functionality to explore rhythm, repetition and colour as a visual language. In doing so, she not only elevates a craft but also interrogates the gendered legacy of craftwork and artistic recognition in Southeast Asia.
Malak Mattar: Gaza-based Painter
Malak Mattar is a Gazan artist whose work has gained international attention for its deeply expressive, politically charged storytelling about life under occupation. Her large‑scale paintings — including works created in response to the 2023–2025 conflict — have been exhibited globally and discussed in major art publications. Mattar’s practice blends figurative imagery with cultural symbolism, portraying Palestinian women not just as subjects of conflict but as bearers of memory and resilience. Her 2024 piece “No Words” has been compared to Picasso’s “Guernica” in its emotional force and contemporary relevance and she was preparing to be the first Palestinian artist to hold a solo show at Central Saint Martins, signalling breakthrough visibility within elite art institutions.
Fashion
Gigi Burris: Founder and Milliner of Closely Crafted
New York City’s Garment District — the historic engine of American Luxury — faces a quiet but terminal decline. As skyrocketing commercial rents and shifting regulations squeeze the city’s remaining artisanal centres, Gigi Burris — founder of her namesake Gigi Burris Millinery — has moved beyond design to active preservation. In 2022, Burris established Closely Crafted, a non-profit dedicated to sustaining the domestic workforce that powers the industry. Her mission centres on artisan equity, creating a bridge between traditional savoir-faire and the next generation of creators. By fostering apprenticeship programs and advocating for local manufacturing, she aims to ensure that “Made in NYC” remains a viable mark of quality rather than a relic of the past.
Cindy Castro: Founder and Designer of Cindy Castro
For designer Cindy Castro, a garment’s origin is its most significant luxury. The Ecuadorian-born founder of Cindy Castro New York marks her collections with tags that state: “Made by Immigrants”. Since launching her label in 2020 and opening her Garment District atelier in 2022, Castro has transformed her brand into a platform for labour advocacy and visibility. The past year has tested the resilience of this mission. Castro has emerged as a vocal opponent of the MSMX plan, attending protests and warning that the rezoning threatens to erase the very immigrant-led workforce that sustains New York fashion. This domestic instability is compounded by a heightened climate of fear — following recent ICE raids in Los Angeles that targeted garment workers, Castro has used her platform to speak out against the criminalisation of the creators who power the industry’s supply chain. By centering human rights within her business model, Castro is described as a “pioneer” for the actions to protect the community that forms the backbone of the industry.
Business/AI
Sarika Bajaj: Co‑Founder of Refiberd
The global fashion industry produces over 90 billion kilograms of textile waste annually, yet less than 1 percent is successfully recycled. For Sarika Bajaj, co-founder and CEO of Refiberd, the primary barrier to circularity is an information gap: the lack of accurate data regarding material composition costs brands and recyclers billions in lost efficiency. Recently recognised on the 2026 Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Impact list, the 29-year-old engineer is transforming old supply chains through deep technology.
Since founding the California-based startup in 2020 alongside co-founder Tushita Gupta, Bajaj has developed a patent-pending system that combines hyperspectral imaging with AI to automate textile sorting. While traditional chemical analysis is destructive and slow, Refiberd’s technology detects material composition within 1 to 2 percent accuracy, identifying specific fibers and contaminants at high speeds. This innovation has already attracted significant industry momentum and USD 5.45 million in total funding, including a recent USD 300,000 investment from eBay Ventures, which named Refiberd its 2025 Circular Fashion Innovator of the Year.
Sophia Kianni: AI Entrepreneur and Social Innovator
For Iranian-American social entrepreneur Sophia Kianni, technology is a tool for systemic recalibration. 24-year-old Kianni is the youngest-ever United Nations advisor in U.S. history and has built a multifaceted career bridging climate advocacy and digital innovation, with a focus on how information can be decentralised to empower global communities. In 2025 Kianni co-founded Phia, a venture-backed AI shopping agent designed to dismantle the opaque structures of modern e-commerce. Unlike traditional search engines, Phia functions as an “alignment layer”, using proprietary machine learning to scan over 40,000 retailers and resale platforms. By surfacing second-hand alternatives and real-time price intelligence, the platform incentivises circular consumption.
In January 2026, Phia announced a USD 35 million Series A funding round, valuing the company at USD 185 million and signalling a major market shift toward intentional, AI-driven commerce. This entrepreneurial success is anchored by her leadership of Climate Cardinals, the world’s largest youth-led climate non-profit. With over 16,000 volunteers translating climate information into more than 100 languages, Kianni has effectively broken the language barriers that exclude non-English speakers from environmental discourse.
For more on the latest in profile and culture reads, click here.
